Applications (Individual Tests)

Caking Tests - Caking tests are used to measure how the particles in a powder or granular material form bonds with each other. These bonds are typically unwanted and can create application problems.

Flowability Tests - Powder flowability is defined as the ease with which a powder will flow under a specified set of conditions. Some of these conditions include: the pressure on the powder, the humidity of the air around the powder and the equipment the powder is flowing through or from. For some applications, ease of flow is simply defined by whether the powder flows or not, the so called "go no-go" approach. The only question is: Will the powder flow through the system or not? For other applications, the rate and consistency of the powder flow is important.

Charge Tests -Measuring the charge acquisition properties of powders and granular materials is important because charge acquisition leads to problems and unstable behavior. Mercury Scientific Inc offers the ION Charge Module to measure the charge acquisition properties of
powders and granular materials.

Fluidization Tests -A powder is fluidized when a gas is injected into the powder causing the powder particles to separate and enter a fluid like state. The properties of the powder, as well as the pressure and temperature of the gas, determines the degree of fluidization.

Granulation Tests - On handling powder particles are constantly smashing into each other. For some materials, these collisions produce larger aggregated particles.

Multi-Flow Tests - As more and more energy is used to move powders and granular materials, there behavior can change dramatically. Some materials behave better while some behave worse.

Packing Tests - When a powder or granular material is exposed to vibrational energy, the particles in the material can pack together very tightly. The packing test is useful for studying vibrational packing in small volume containers.